success - Einstein's Cross !

[nytecam]

Been planning this for some weeks but indifferent skies and holiday weekends have stalled it - the clock change last weekend helped with a good altitude at a social hour last night.

Einstein's Cross is a gravitationally lensed quasar QSO2237+030 @ 8BLY immediately behind a faint foreground galaxy PGC 69457 [=ZW2237+ 030 - Huchra Lens] @ 400MLY - the quasar is split into four faint stellar images mag 17-18.

The first image has had a simple linear stretch and the main image an unsharp mask - the quasar is clearly a cross-like form different to the star images shown inset and enlarged x3.75.  Not unexpectedly the quasar [1.6"-arc across] is not resolved to level of the Hubble image inset but I'm very pleased with the result as frankly I didn't have great hopes for it. 

Used my new SX Lodestar-Mx2 camera on my 30cm Meade LX200 at native f/10 mode [= 3.05m efl] with insets enlarged to 11.4m efl.  Hope it's of interest.

[Martin Meredith]

Astonishing! I wondered if this would be possible for someone (but not with my 800mm FL…).This is a single 105s sub? Have you tried stacking?

Martin

[lensman57]

Amazing work, thanks for posting.

A.G

[RobertI]

Fascinating!

[nytecam]

Thanks guys

Astonishing! I wondered if this would be possible for someone (but not with my 800mm FL…).This is a single 105s sub? Have you tried stacking?

Martin

Martin - the 'E-cross' is tiny and fits a 1.6"arc square so some reasonable resolution is needed hence my rare excusion to native f/10 on my SCT.  The image is 7x15s summed stack in SX s/w

[Martin Meredith]

Thanks guys

Martin - the 'E-cross' is tiny and fits a 1.6"arc square so some reasonable resolution is needed hence my rare excusion to native f/10 on my SCT.  The image is 7x15s summed stack in SX s/w

Yes, the cross would fit into a single pixel on my highest-resolution setup! I'm impressed that 15s subs at f/10 deliver such a result. Do you think there is any chance at all of getting complete separation of at least one component with a much larger stack?

Martin

[nytecam]

Yes, the cross would fit into a single pixel on my highest-resolution setup! I'm impressed that 15s subs at f/10 deliver such a result. Do you think there is any chance at all of getting complete separation of at least one component with a much larger stack?  Martin

No Martin - it's not a question of more exposure but of more resolution - in my case of longer focal length via Barlow OR smaller pixels on the camera.  In both conditions seeing and to a lesser extent tracking accuracy foul things up unfortunately and this is about as good as it gets for me for now.

Interestingly my mate Ron is about a mile from me with identical scope in a simlar dome as me and hi-res planets via Barlows is his thing but the 'seeing' boggyman ruins many sessions...and the very reason I've never done this area seriously.  My DSO output is huge by comparison with my scope running at ~1m fl with the Lodestar where seeing and tracking errors can be ignored.

[StuartJPP]

I capture these all the time, though I think it is my optics

Nice work, good to see something totally different and learn something totally new.

[laser_jock99]

Good work.

[Dave]

Nice work on a very challenging object.

[Uranium235]

Erm... I didnt think this was possible with amateur gear - so well done there!

Its about the same distance as the much easier twin quasar (also ~8bly).

[ollypenrice]

Ouch, I nearly missed this but it is profoundly impressive. This really is an acheivement outside the more familiar realms of modern imaging. As they say here, 'Chapeau!' This is great.

Olly

[x6gas]

Excellent capture - congratulations.

Who'd have thought that it would be possible to image this kind of object from your back garden 20 years ago...

[morimarty]

Very well done on capturing this interesting object!

[bluedandelion]

Nice catch. Another trick that could be used to improve resolution here is to dither between shots and then to use drizzle.

Ajay

[nytecam]

Thanks everyone for your interest and support

Nice catch. Another trick that could be used to improve resolution here is to dither between shots and then to use drizzle.

Ajay

Thanks Ajay - I'll give it a go with the short series of images I captured - would be nice to improve the resolution

[astro mick]

Unbelievable capture,as Olly say,s HATS off to you sir.

Mick.